This invention relates to a process for activating a substrate surface to render the surface bondable to a material to be immobilized thereon by covalent bonding.
Prepared surfaces are known, as well as methods for their production. These surfaces can serve as a base or substrate for the materials to be immobilized thereon, with the result that the surface acquires contemplated desired properties. Such a prepared surface is applied for example in materials used in medical devices such as catheters and membranes, for in vivo applications in which the material surface is rendered blood compatible by immobilizing thereon a physiological compound, such as heparin, as described in Dutch patent application No. 8701337 and elsewhere.
It is an object of the invention to provide a new process for such activation having improved bonding and a more general function so that the activated surface can serve as a base for immobilizing thereon a considerably broader selection of materials than only physiologically active compounds such as heparin, and to provide such a surface with a prolonged service life.